Hose drier



HOSE DRIER Filed July 26, 1929 INVENTOR ATTORNEY WITNESSES Patented Jan. 19, 1932 UNITED STATES PATENT ol-"rics LESTER L. POLK AND DOLLY MAY POLK, OF NEW ORLEANS, ZIIJO'U'ISIAJSTA HOSE DRIER Application filed July 26,

This invention appertains to improvements in hose driers generally, and has for its main object to provide a frame or form for facilitating the drying out of ladies hose and the like after washin and which will act to reshape-the hose durmg the drying. Another object of the invention is to provide a drier of the class set forth which is of extremely simple but durable and efficient to construction and design and which will be comparatively inexpensive to manufacture and easy to manipulate into or out of re shaping engagement with a hose or stocking.

A further object of the invention is to provide a device of the character mentioned which will embody only a sufiicient amount 0 resiliency to reshape a hose or stocking from mussed condition incident to the use of washing the-same, so that when dried, the hose or stocking will be substantially free from wrinkles and sufficiently so to obviate ironing if desired A still further object of the invention resides in the provision of a hose or stocking form which is preferably made from a nonrustable metal wire, the same being bent to conform to the generalshape of the foot and calf portion of a human leg, from front to rear, so as to shape the hose or stocking to that form and in a manner that the same will be free from mussed or wrinkled condition aforesaid when dried. 4

With the foregoing and other equally important objects and advantages in view, the invention resides in the certain new and useful combination, construction and arrangement of parts as will be hereinafter more fully described, set forth in the appended claims, and illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which:

Figure 1 is a side elevation of a practical embodiment of the invention, the same showing the device in full linesas it appears when operative and in broken lines when collapsed for insertion into or removal from a hose or stocking;

Figure 2 is a top plan view thereof; and

Figure 3 is a horizontal section, taken on the line 3-3 of Figure 1.

Referring to the drawings, the embodi- 20, forming the other finger piece, is graspe 1929. Serial No. 881,289.

upwardly inclined irregularly curved front arch or foot portion 13 running ,into a heel shaped upwardly curving portion 14; at its rear end portion from whence a rearwardly vertical portion 15 rises. This rear portion 15 as shown is preferably irregularly curved to conform to the usual curvature of the rear portion of the 'calf of the human leg.

The upper end portion of the rear vertical portion 15 at a point just above the plane of the upper end or top of a hose or stocking a engaged on the frame, is formed to provide an angularly offset portion 16, which is substantially V-shaped in side elevation and has its outer vertically extending arm portion merging on a curved line, as at 17 into a forwardly directed straight lateral arm 18. This arm 18 after passing through a guide eye or loop 19, formed in an intermediate portion of the upper end portion of the front vertical portion 10, terminates in an eye or loop 20, of larger area than the eye or loop 19 so as to form a finger piece to facilitate the manipulation of the frame, as will be hereinafter fully explained. The eye or loop 20 also forms a stop to prevent the separation of the horizontal portion 18 from the guide eye or loop 19 during the manipulation of the frame parts.

Above the eye or loop 19 the upper end of 99 the front vertical frame portion 10 terminates in an eye or loop 21 which also acts as a finger piece and is to be grasped by one hand of an operator when the eye or 100 0 5 by the other hand of the operator, in order to move the front and rear vertical frame portions 10 and 15 relatively to one another, as is necessary to facilitate the insertion of the frame into or its removal from a hose or 133 stocking. As shown in dotted lines in Figure 1, when it is desired to place a hose or stocking a on the frame, or to remove one therefrom, the front vertical portion 10 is moved rearwardly toward the rear vertical )ortion 15, which movement results in the rame being deformed into a greatly reduced width both in the combined instep, toe, arch and heel and the leg portions therein, the angle connecting portion 12 acting asa point of fulcrum for the front and rear portions of the frame to that end.

After a hose or stocking a has been slipped into position on the frame, the parts 10 and 15 are permitted to assume their normal spread position, which results in the hose or stocln'ng being tensioned by the natural resiliency of the parts into substantially leg form and in which condition it will be allowed to dry, the frame being suspended from a suitable support at the eye or loop 21 or from a clothes drying line by the engagement of such a line and the horizontal portion 18 of the frame with a clothes pin or the like.

In order to sustain the front and rear vertical frame portions 10 and 15 in spread position sufliciently to place a hose or stockinga under a desired tension, opposite sides of the horizontal portion 18 are serrated or roughened, as at 22, so as to have frictional or biting engagement with adjacent portions of the guide eye or loop 19, the latter being seinewhat angularly disposed with respect to the transverse width of the frame, as will be observed in Figure 3, to facilitate the necessary cooperation of the parts to that end. When the parts of the frame are in normal position, the loop 19 will tend to move into line with the front and back vertical portion 10 and 15 so that the binding effect of the same on the roughened or serrated portions 22 of the frame portion 18, is as a consequence greatly increased. Therefore, the freeing of the horizontal portion 18, for the relative adjustment of the frame parts 10 and 15, is to be aided by the imparting of a slight twisting movement to the finger piece 21 when the same and the finger piece 20 is grasped by the operator for the purpose.

In the operation of the device, as thus constructed and arranged and after a hose or stocking has been washed the latter is gathered in the well known manner beginning at the top and the right side out and until the inside or toe portion is exposed, when the latter portion will be placed over the toe portion 11 of the frame. The frame is now collapsed by releasing the pressure on the loop 19 and the horizontal frame portion 18, and then forcing the front portion 10 to the position somewhat as shown in broken lines in Figure 1. To assure of the contraction of the instep and heel portions of the device, the guide loop 19 is moved downwardly of the due strain upon the frame in its entirety, such as might otherwise damage the device by distorting the same out of its initial shape.

Havin thus engaged the foot and ankle portion 0 the hose or stocking over the corresponding portions of the frame, the latter is inverted and the upper part of the hose or stocking is then permitted to fall over the remainder .of the frame above the horizontal portion 18. When the hose or stocking is thus positioned on the frame, the guide eye or loop 19 will be freed from the angular offset portion 16 and moved forwardly along the horizontal portion 18, when the resiliency of the frame parts will lightly tension the stocking in a spread and somewhat leg shaped condition. This spreading movement of portions of the frame does not literally stretch the hose or stocking fabric but is only suilicient to properly adjust or shape the hose or stocking to the frame. With the guide eye 19 in binding engagement with the oppositely roughened or serrated sides of the horizontal portion 18 of the frame, an adjustment thereof to further spread the upper end portions of the vertical frame portions 10 and 15, will properly spread the top of the hose or stocking, to free the same of any wrinkles therein, which por tion is often slightly larger to accommodate the corresponding part of the human leg.

It is to be noted that by the alinement of the seam of a hose or stocking along the rear vertical frame member 15, the hose or stocking will be properly adjusted or, if desired to board the seam either to the right or left, the seam may be adjusted slightly to one side or the other of the vertical frame portion 15 and continuing the offset along the foot portion of the frame and following the remainder of the contour of the wire. This gives an identical appearance as found in new hose. From this, it will be seen that by reversing the seam from one side to the other of the rear frame portion 15, the seam is thrown either to the right onleft side of the hose so as to be hidden, when the completely dried hose is properly folded.

In removing the hose or stocking after drying similar operations of collapsing and depressing the frame parts are followed throughout, when the heel portion of the hose or stocking is carefully slipped down and around the heel portion of the frame, and

thereafter the hose or stocking may be readily removed by grasping the same by the toe portion thereof. This removal operation may be accomplished without in any way wrinkling the dried and reshaped hose or stocking, so that the same will present itself in appearance as though it were new.

Without further description, it is thought that the features and advantages of the invention will be readily apparent to those skilled in the art, and it will of course be understood that changes in the form, proportion and minor details of construction may be resorted to, without departing from the spirit of the invention or its scope as claimed.

\Ve claim:

1. A device of the class described, comprising a resilient one piece open wire frame having the configuration of the human leg, a closed formed in one of the vertical sides of the rame adjacent its upper end, an angled portion formed at the upper end of the other of the vertical side portions of the frame and disposed in sliding engagement with the said loop, a second closed loop formed at the free end of said angled portion to prevent the latter from disengagement with said first named loop, and another closed loop formed at the extreme upper end of said first named vertical side of said frame, said last named loop and said second loop acting as finger pieces for the collapsing of said frame and the restoring of the same to hose shaping position.

2. A device of the class described, comprising a resilient one piece open wire frame having the configuration of the human leg, a closed loop formed in the front vertical side of said frame adjacent its up er end, an angled offset portion formed in t e other vertical side portion of said frame, an angled portion formed at the upper end of the latter portion of the frame above the said offset portion thereof, said angled portion being adapted for sliding engagement with the said closed loop, said closed loop being movable rearwardly along said angled portion for engagement in said oil'set portion to collapse the frame for ready insertion into a hose, said angled portion being roughened for a portion of its length and the closed loop being so arranged as to exert a binding effect on the roughened portion of said angled portion when the parts are disposed in normal position, and closed loops formed at the extremities of the front vertical side portion of the frame and the forward end of said angled portion to form finger pieces for facilitating the collapsing and expansion movements of said frame, the closed loop at the free end of said angled portion also acting as a stop to prevent the disengagement of the same from the first named closed loop.

LESTER L. POLK. DOLLY MAY POLK. 

